Sticks and Stones
by FlightlessBird1122
Summary: Lillian Honya is a girl that knows nothing, yet everything at the same time. When everything you love and care for is taken from you, what do you live for? Who do you turn to? Every day is a victory, but what happens when she just wants to live life?
1. The Project

_**"Sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me."**_

_**-Anonymous**_

_**Ch.1 : The Project**_

"Ugh, I hate Mondays." Lillian muttered. The bed was just so comfortable and school was so far away. She wanted to just go back to sleep but obviously her alarm clock wasn't having that. It was screeching some loud song from the radio and from experience she knew it wasn't stopping anytime soon.

She threw the covers off of her and sat up, moaning from the head rush she got. Lily slowly got out of the bed, careful of her wounds, and made her way over to the closet. Every part of her body ached and she could still feel the dried blood caked on hands. All in all she felt gross and dirty and tired.  
On the way to her closet she switched off her sleek black alarm clock. Silence greeted her ears and she welcomed it. She didn't need an even bigger headache than she already had. It's boxy green numbers were flashing, as if it were showing it's irritation towards her. It read 7:48. Lily's school didn't start until 9:30 but she knew that her parents usually woke up around 8:40ish and she planned on being long gone by then.

The drowsiness was beginning to wear off, which was always a good sign, so she continued on towards the closet to choose what to wear. Lillian pulled out the doors, revealing her extensive wardrobe that, secretly, she was very proud of. On one side were all of the tank tops and mini-shorts that she loved ever so much and on the other long sleeved polos and a variety of pants. From the sun that drifted into her room she could tell that it wasn't going to be in the slightest bit cold outside but she also knew that she wasn't allowed to bask in the warmth like normal teens did.  
After a long minute of careful contemplation she decided on a light blue button down shirt, navy pants and a black jacket.

Lily sighed again before slipping into the shower. Could sighing too much cause you to age prematurely? Hopefully the answer was no, because otherwise she was going to be old and gray before she graduated from high school.

"_Trigonometric functions are commonly defined as __ratios__ of two sides of a right triangle containing the angle, and can equivalently be defined as the lengths of various line segments from a __unit circle__."_

The teacher's voice drifted in and out of her consciousness. It was Monday so she really didn't care what the teacher had to say. Lillian already knew all of the material anyway. The only reason she was in the class was because she didn't feel like moving on to Calculus.

"_More modern definitions express them as __infinite series__ or as solutions of certain __differential equations__, allowing their extension to arbitrary positive and negative values and even to __complex numbers__."_

Someone raised their hand, stopping the teacher's boring monologue. _Thank God!_

"Yes, Mr. McCloud?" She said in her raspy voice.

"I was wondering if we could do independent work since we already know the material." Then he flashed a 'Star Student' smile that made even their boring teacher smile back. "If nobody disagrees…?" he added as an afterthought, scanning the classroom. As his deep blue eyes landed on Lily he grinned. She hurriedly looked away, a blush on her face.

Nobody disagreed so the teacher left them to the problems on the board. She immediately started. _Nothing better to do…_

Even thought it was just a boring dreary Monday she couldn't help but think that something interesting was going to happen that day.

Lillian sat on a low branch of her favorite tree on campus. She wasn't exactly a socialite so she always went there during lunch to eat. It had a good view and she liked the calmness that seeped into the air so high up.

A shrill bell rang, signaling the end of lunch. She jumped down, landing perfectly on the balls of her feet. Five years of gymnastics did that to a person.

On her way to class Lillian passed by a large group of people in her grade. She only recognized a few who were in her classes. More specifically Keith McCloud and his best friend Zach Joyce. They were probably the most popular people in the whole school. The guys that every girl wanted but knew they couldn't have.

Being seniors helped a bit too.

Lily just kept on walking. She didn't even bother with those type of people anymore. If it were a few years ago then she might have said hi, but now she had no reason to. It would only complicate things.

Lillian hurried past them to her fifth period Honors Biology class. The teacher, Mr. O'Leary, was pretty nice and hardly gave out work. He was more of a "Here's a worksheet, have fun" sort of guy.

She shuffled into the classroom, going directly to her favorite seat in the back. It was farthest from the teacher, the door, and was next to the only window in the classroom. She sighed, resting her head on her Science book. The day was almost over. She still had to be careful of how she sat and what not though. No use in opening up old wounds.

She heard more people enter the room. They were talking and laughing too loud for her liking and she sighed gratefully when Mr. O'Leary called for attention.

"Okay class! No worksheets today! Instead you're being assigned a project that will be you're end of the semester mid-term, giving you about two months to finish it. The only catch is that you have to work with a partner that I've already picked since there's no way I'm grading forty projects!"

By now the whole class was talking and moaning for some reason or other. Lillian just sat, chin resting on her arms, waiting for him to finish.

"I'll have someone pass out the requirements. You and your partners' names are on the packet so you know who to work with. Good Luck! I'm off to search the web!" He retreated back to his desk before the mob of students got to the kid with the packets. Poor him. Didn't know what he was getting himself into…

Rather than racing up to the front to fight for three pieces of stapled paper Lily sat patiently at her desk. Either she'd get it after or her partner would come to her with it.

Once all the packets had been…distributed…everyone started looking for their designated partners. She saw a guy walking up to her, a sloppy grin plastered on his face. She assumed he was her partner since nobody ever talked to her without some sort of purpose. As he got closer she realized that the project wasn't going to be as easy as she'd hoped.

"Lillian Honya? Hi, my name is Keith McCloud. I guess I'm your partner."

It just _had_ to be Mr. Popular, huh? Out of everyone in the class. Someone up there hated her…

"Yeah, that's me." There was an awkward silence before Keith finally said something.

"Well the paper says we have to do it on any genre of living organisms. The project includes writing an essay and doing some sort of visual. Hmm, got any ideas?" His chair was turned backwards so that he could face her more easily, his legs circling the back.

She thought about it. If it were just her she'd do something she personally loved, like the sky but since it was both of them she settled on something easier. "How about sea life?" Couldn't go wrong there right? He agreed and they spent the rest of the class period talking over details.

She didn't know if she particularly liked Keith but she was going to be spending the next two months with him so she'd just have to get used to him.

It was only a project. Nothing life changing about doing a project with Keith McDreamy…right?

**A/N- I'll keep it going if you want me to:) Review?**


	2. Study Date

_"The first time someone shows you who they are, believe them."_  
_— Maya Angelou_

* * *

**Ch.2: Study Date**

_Just another day..._ Lillian thought from up in her tree. She'd already thrown away what had remained of her lunch so now she was just sitting, admiring the view. Lily was just starting to doze off when she heard a voice calling her name.

"Lillian! Hey, Lillian!" She slowly looked down. At the base of the tree she saw a decently tall guy. His messy light brown locks were becoming impossibly more muddled due to his jumping and his crystal blue eyes were looking expectantly at her. When she figured out who it was she jumped in surprise, causing her to fall off her branch and onto the forest green grass…right… in front…of Keith.

"Hi?" Lillian asked questioningly. Keith stared down at her, eyes practically twinkling in the anything but seasonal sunlight. Rather than help her up he sat down in front of her, criss-cross apple sauce_. Well that works too…_ He swiped some sweat from his brow before beginning.

"Nice hangout." He started in a teasing voice. Lillian glanced around, spotting a girl that was giving her a very scary death glare. "If that's your girlfriend, I think she's going to try to kill me." He looked towards where she had pointed, immediately picking her out of the crowd.

"Oh, Becca? Actually, she's an ex-girlfriend. Though I'd still watch your back. There's a reason I broke up with her…"

There was a moment of uncomfortable silence before Lily manned up and spoke. "…So you needed me for something?" An invisible light bulb flicked on in his head.

"Well, since we have the project in Mr. O'Leary's class together I was wondering if you wanted to do some research in the library after school…" His head was being propped up by his hand and the way he was looking at her was ever so distracting. She knew that Trevor..urm..her Dad, would kill her if she wasn't back by five to cook him dinner, but she was a senior for goodness sakes! She deserved to hang out with other people once in a while!

"Sure. Um, then I guess I'll see you in-" Lily pulled out her baby blue cell phone and scanned the time, "five minutes." She smiled. The shorter the better. It gave her a good excuse to hang around some one who was happy and fun. A welcomed change of pace for her.

"Okay! See you then." Keith agreed as he jumped up. Lily just sat there watching him walk back towards his friends (plus his creepy ex). She just stared into space until she was rudely interrupted by the school's old warning bell. Lily just scooped up her stuff before jogging to class.

"Lily, are you busy after school?" She turned around. Lillian knew that who

it was just from their voice, but decided to turn around anyway.

"Yeah, Keith and I are going to hang out and do research in the library for our science project."Her face fell but then instantaneously brightened.

"_The _Kieth!" She nodded mutely at Sophia. They were _supposed _to be reading.

Their silent conversation ended when the teacher called the class to attention. They had an English essay on Hamlet due Friday. Just her luck.

A few minutes later the sweet relief that came with the end of another school day washed through her. Closely followed by the fear and excitement from having to go back home to her parents and going to the library with Keith. Lillian packed her bag, slowly, due to habit.

She was almost out the door when her teacher, Mrs. Myer called her back. "If you ever want to talk about anything…I'm all ears." The woman said; a small smile on her face. Lily gazed back at her for a few seconds before realizing her mistake.

She forced a laugh. "I'm good Mrs. M but thanks for the concern. I'll keep it in mind if something comes up." Then she left the classroom; the teacher's suspicious gaze burning into her back.

The open air felt nice after being stuck inside for school all day. The sprinkle of water that drifted on the gentle breeze, due to the school's many sprinklers, helped her to calm down. The long walk from the H building to the Library gave her time to think about what she was doing.

_What's the harm in studying with my Biology partner for an hour or two?_

Absolutely nothing. With that she walked into the brightly lit building, wandering around until she spotted the familiar head of messy brown locks.

"Sorry I'm a bit late. English is ages from here."She smiled apologetically before sitting in the chair across from him. A sloppy smile was on his face as well and his eyes brightened infinitesimally.

"Well, to make up for your rudeness, how about we play Twenty Questions?" She glared at his ever-smiling face. "Make it five and you've got a deal." He thought it over before looking back up; catching her eyes in the process. Therefore causing Lily to look back down.

"So you're name is Lillian Honya right?" Lily nodded her head.

"Yes, but please call me Lily. Lillian makes me think that my father's calling me." He nodded as well. Probably filing it away into some kind of unseen memory bank to go over later. "Plus it's just so formal…" she tacked onto the end.

Keith grinned trying it out, "Lily," It broadened, "has a nice ring to it."

"Really? I think the name is absolutely ordinary." Keith shook his head. Rather than pursuing the bait she'd dropped he fired off the next question.

"Why don't I remember seeing you in class before? Are you new?" She had lived in Knightsen, California all her life. It had a whopping total of nine-hundred and sixteen residents, not counting Mrs. Merriweather's new baby down the street. Lily had been in the same class as him almost every year since grade six. Their town was a place where everybody knows everyone and secrets spread like wildfire. He was obviously oblivious to anything that wasn't within his 'bubble' so she'd have to word this very carefully.

"I don't exactly stick out." He seemed to accept that, but couldn't let the age thing go. "But how long have you lived here?" She smiled ruefully."Longer than you." Lily could still remember the day he transferred into their elementary school. People had instantly befriended him_._

_Popular on your first day, I wonder how that feels…_

"How are you wearing that right now! I'm burning up in here with shorts, a short sleeved shirt _and _the air conditioner on full blast! Then I see you wearing a black jacket and pants. Just looking at you is making me hot."

She flushed. Lily actually was a bit warm but there wasn't much she could do about it. Maybe she could wear shorts sometime. Her arms were much worse than her legs… "It's mid-October. How am I not allowed to be wearing pants and a jacket?"

"Because it's ninety-something degrees outside and you'll probably die of heat stroke, before you get home." She just shrugged. "I'll take my chances."

"Do you have any siblings? You seem like someone that would be very protective of their loved ones. Did they get into fights?"

"One. She died...from...a...car accident. And yes, I guess you could say that Kira got into fights." No need to mention that their father had a lot to do with those fights and that Kira was killed because of _someone _not _something. _Keith seemed to understand though and dropped the subject.

"Favorite color?" She looked at him, skeptically. "What! It's a very controversial subject!" She thought about it before replying. "I'd have to go with silver."

"What an odd choice madam. I would beg to differ! Green is obviously the best of all colors! I mean, look at everything that's green!" Lily did not think so at all. It was probably one of her least favorite colors actually.

"Fine, what's your favorite thing that's green?" She couldn't help but ask. What was there that was green_ and_ good? Nothing she could think of.

"Right now? Probably your eyes." Her snappy comeback instantly evaporated. Blood flooded her cheeks, tinting them a light pink. She looked down, embarrassed. "Thanks." Damn. Why did he have to be so alluring?

"Yeah, yeah. Let's just start with the studying Prince Charming." He smiled, all of his pearly white teeth flashing. "Your wish is my command."

**A/N- Thank you for reading:) Reviews are love. So I guess you guys want me to keep updating? Thank you for the support. Shaefer will be so happy:) Btw, Fanfiction hates me. The setup for this story would look much better with pace breaks and center-ness! But it won't let me so grrr...**


	3. Life at Home

**Ch.3: Life at Home**

* * *

_"Don't judge a book by its cover; it may be the last thing you do"_

-A Wise Man

* * *

Kairi stared blankly at the smudge stained whiteboard. She was supposed to be copying the equations into her journal, but frankly, she couldn't even begin to concentrate on that due the large gash in her right thigh. From what medical procedures she knew it was safe to say she needed stitches.

The glass had taken forever to pick out the day before and had hurt like hell. There was blood all over her hands, even more once the alcohol tainted shards came out, and the wound was _at least_ a few inches deep.

Her father was anything but weak but something that definitely described him was selfish. There was no way he would take her to get stitches; too many unwanted questions would be asked. And Rosalynne, Lillian's mom, wouldn't take her if Luke, her father said not to. She was such a coward.

Since she wasn't very keen on sewing it herself, Lily found some gauze to wrap the gash up with after she'd cleaned it. The pain meds she'd taken that morning weren't doing their job as well as she'd have liked them to. As she sat in the classroom, fidgeting from the pain, she couldn't help but wonder if staying after school with Keith hadn't been such a great idea.

_I checked my phone; it read 6:10. I blinked and looked at it again, unbelieving. Hadn't it just been four o'clock? Panic struck my heart. Six. I was supposed to be home by five. Where had the time gone? Luke was going to KILL me! _

_Meanwhile Keith was just chattering away his opinion as to why dolphins were sooo much better than regular fish._

"…_and besides they are just plain cool! I mean, really, can you ride a normal fish?" I was hardly paying attention. I needed to get out of here and get home as quickly as possible. My teeth were grinding dangerously hard against my lower lip; a bad habit that I had when I was anxious._

"_Yeah, I've gotta go, Keith. I'll see you tomorrow, okay?" I stuffed all of my stuff and the research work into my bag before dashing towards the door and exiting the cool, air conditioned, building. Outside it was beyond hot and running didn't exactly work against the heat stroke I was bound to get if I kept on all of these clothes. _

_I pulled the jacket over my head, relief flooded through me. I was so much better without it on. I was running, running, running all the way home. I had excellent stamina due to many years of running in multiple fields, so a mile or two was a piece of cake. _

_The house was in sight now so I slowed down to a brisk walk. The door seemed to almost loom over me now. I took a deep breath before quietly easing the door open. I caught sight of the glass bottle flying toward me before I saw him. I shut the door. I heard the glass rain down, spewing itself across the surface of the beige tiled flooring. _

_I made a mad dash for the kitchen, before he could find anything else to throw at me. Though beer bottles were his favorite, he'd settle for something else if he had to. The stupid drunk. What had he done to my family? I missed __**my **__dad; the kind man that used to take me to amusement parks and would watch inappropriate movies with me. My step-dad, Luke, just took out his anger by hurting me and my mother and bossing us around. _

_I caught sight of another thing soaring through the room towards me. This time it was a wine bottle. Damn. I put up my arms to protect my face a little too late; it was second nature by now. _

"Miss Honya! Miss Honya!" Lily snapped her head up. Ms. Gatlin, her Trig teacher, was right above her. She touched her bandaged arm, causing her to hiss from the pain. "Are you okay? Would you like to go to the nurse? You've been kind of out of it all morning."

Anything was better than staying in that classroom. She wasn't learning anything so she might as well hang out for a while. Lillian couldn't go to the nurse, but that didn't mean she had to stay in class either.

"Yeah, I think I'll go." She packed up all of her stuff, exiting as quietly as she'd come.

Keith gazed at the door she'd exited for a while. Why had she gone? She was acting sort of strangely the day before. He had the overpowering need to check on her. Just to see if she was okay. At least that was what he told himself.

"Ms. Gatlin, I think I need to go to the nurse. I _really_ need to use the bathroom." She got the gist of what he said and immediately excused him. He picked up his stuff, bid adieu to his friends and walked out of the classroom into the monotone hallway of Knightsen High School, home of the Knightsen knights. Creative, we know.

He began wandering the halls, not really sure where to start. He was positive that she hadn't gone to the nurse; she seemed the type to stay away from doctors and prying eyes. So she was either off campus or somewhere around the school.

"If I were sick and didn't want to go to the nurse, where would I go?"

Just then retching sounds came from the bathroom. He went towards it, stopping at a door. The girl's bathroom. Was he willing to risk being scarred and teased for life by entering the forbidden territory that was the other sex's bathroom? After a moment of careful contemplation and another round of coughing he decided. Yes, yes he was.

Keith pushed the door open quickly and silently. Nobody but the person whom he hoped was Lillian was in there. He began walking by the stalls, checking them as he walked by. "Lily?" A squeak came from a few stalls down. Bingo.

She sat on the seat of the toilet, staring at the unlocked door of her stall. Slowly, so slowly, it was pushed open. Keith's face appeared, embarrassed yet relieved at the same time. She looked down.

"What are you doing here Keith?" Her knuckles were beginning to turn white; the skin was stretched so thin. He sighed, running his hand through his short brown hair, his dark brown highlights more obvious in the bathroom's fluorescent lighting.

"I just wanted to make sure you were okay. You ran off really fast yesterday and you were acting really strange in Trig. Then I hear you throwing up in the bathroom, so here I am." She stared at him for a long moment. Hadn't they just officially met yesterday? Why did he have to be so nice? She sighed in defeat.

"Thank you. I'm fine though. You can go back to class if you want." He was undeterred.

"Not a chance. I may not know what wrong, but I know that something is up so I'm not going to leave you here alone to puke your guts out into the bathroom toilet. Come on." He grabbed my wrist and began walking towards the door. "You're coming with me, but I don't want to be in here when the bell rings."

* * *

She let him drag her along until the brisk October air came over her. It was much cooler today than yesterday and a breeze was blowing. She actually wished she'd worn a heavier jacket. "Where are we going?" Lily finally asked as she sat down in the passenger seat of his shiny midnight-blue Lexus.

"I," he turned on the car, "am taking you home." She panicked. That was the absolute last place she wanted to be.

"How about the park. I'm not ready to go home yet."

"Sooo how's life?" Keith asked; a poor attempt at comic relief.

"Crappy." Why lie about it.

"Explanation?"

"Nope."

"Will you tell me at some point?" His eyes were curious. Twin pools of the lightest, brightest shade of blue stared into her forest green ones, pleading. She settled for the latter.

"Maybe." He seemed to accept that.

The swings creaked loudly. They were hardly moving now. Simply sitting on them, swaying with the breeze.

"Well, if you ever have anything to say, I'm all ears." Talk about déjà vu. It's like everyone wanted to know her deep dark secret these days.

"Thanks." He smiled.

"Any time." She hoped she wouldn't need to take him up on his offer. Her eighteenth birthday was in June. Eight months away, meaning she had eight more months of living with her 'parents' before she could move out and never go back to the hell that was the Honya household.

**A/N- Someone's got issues, huh? Thank you to all that are reading this story. It means a lot. If you review I'll write back:)**


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